Welcome back, Greyhound Time, today we are here with Eli Fauss and soon to be joining us. Matt Hurst, how you doing Eli? Doing all right. Doing all right. 

So Clayton Greyhounds basketball team is doing on a run right now that Clayton High School has not seen a little bit. Luke, you can also tell us about that to each other basketball team as well. Yeah, so first season, and since the 2000s with 20 wins, we’re playing this Friday in the Elite Eight, hoping to make the Final Four, which would be the first third time in school history. So we’re playing well right now. We’re winning games and got a lot of confidence. Yeah, I’d agree. If you would have told me freshman year that we would be playing in the Final Four. It would have just sounded like a joke because I remember my sophomore year, my first year out of JV, were like three and two, and someone told me that it was like our first time being over 500 in like 40 seasons, or something like that, and now to see us become to be three-time conference champions and now desert champions and now fighting for a spot in the Final Four, it’s definitely surprising. And, yeah, it’s pretty cool. 

So, how many playoff games have you guys won so far? So, three-game districts and then one Sweet 16 game. Who do you guys play, who do you guys play this Friday at Potos? Potosi and that’s an away game. What’s the atmosphere going to be like at that game? I know it’s pretty far from us, so I doubt many Clayton fans will be there, but isn’t it a pretty big school? Yeah, we just had a similar away game at Owensville. In small towns, there’s usually old gyms that kind of get packed pretty full and the energy’s high. So it’s truly a true away game, especially driving an hour and a half and an hour and a half away, it’s gonna be definitely a hostile environment. But I think that we feed off that pretty well as a team. I think we we get that we get a good sense of energy from the noise in the crowd, and kind of embrace the villain role. Yeah, I agree. The last game was super fun, and it was one of the loudest games I’ve ever played in. And it’s just like, with these towns in Missouri, like, they don’t really have much to do, so like, those, like, all come to this game and, like, I don’t know, it’s just exciting. It’s a weird, different environment. 

What do you guys think it’s gonna take to be like, what kind of basketball style do they play like? Is it similar to you guys? Or is it like, less skilled, more just like bigger guys? Yeah. So usually, once you get out of the city of St Louis and once you get out of Kansas City, it’s really just a physical, slow game, and we can play that way if we need to, but we really play like a high, high offense game and score as many points as we can. So it’s going to be a difference in the style, but luckily, we’re good enough this year and versatile enough this year that we can play any style the opponent plays, so hopefully, we can match that energy and come out with a win. Yeah, I agree. It’s usually like just like slow and physical, and out of them play like football and like other sports. So yeah, but I also feel like defensively, we do a good job because we can kind of dictate their pace by throwing different defenses at them, and like switching them, switching it up on them kind of catches them off guard. 

Has there been any certain things your coach, Ahern, has emphasized throughout the season that you think that’s gotten you guys significantly far, a lot of the times, talks about doing the little things. So even in some of our blood games this year, he’s calling time outs getting on us when we think, when we kind of start relaxing and being complacent, he’s always there to keep us in check because, like in this playoff run, the little things are, what win you or lose you games? So he’s really been hounding us about just rebounding and effort and 5050 balls, things that you wouldn’t necessarily think changed the course of the game but definitely do, Luke, what do you think? Yeah, I agree. Like it’s been like that all season. I remember, like, the first game of the year versus Gateway. We were up 75 points, but Coach kept pressing, and we were just like, stealing the ball and laying it up. Like, I don’t know. I feel like he just tries to, and he says he gets paid to play. He gets paid to coach four quarters. Hold up. 

We have a new guest here by the way. His name is Matt Hurst. He’s the point guard, and yeah, he’s joining us. He came in late. How are you doing today? Matt doing good? How was your lunch? It was good. I forgot I’m at the podcast, but I’m here now. So that’s what matters you. What do you think your coach has done like well this year. That’s like letting you guys this far. I think he’s done a good job with a lot of the young guys who just joined varsity. And, I mean, he’s setting a standard of like, what the intensity needs to be in practice, and he’s not letting anybody slack off because we get punished if we slack off and we’re always running. 

So, yeah, so I forgot you guys have a lot of you have a few sophomores that have played a big role on the team this year. We had them on the podcast earlier this year. But like, what have you guys thought?

 Like, how have they helped you this year?

 What kind of role did they play?

Um, apart from skill, because obviously, some of the most skill players on our team are sophomores. This year, they’ve just kind of brought, like, a new energy and new competitive nature to practice, which, in turn, makes us better when we’re competing every day, and we are playing with high energy and getting Bay every day. So sophomores are actually really important, regardless of their role. They all do a good job of helping benefit the team in some way. Yeah, let’s say is. says, um, they all, they are really really good. But the thing is that, like separates them is like I know when I was like a sophomore when I first came into varsity, I was like super like nervous. Not nervous, but like I felt like a lot of energy, like through like coming through me, and so like I was kind of like rushing and Like. asking up, I feel like. I think he’s done a good job with a lot of the young guys who just joined varsity. It was kind of like rushing and messing up. I feel like they do mess up, but it feels like they just go out there and play, like they have nothing to lose, like they just don’t care. Like, well, like they care, but they just don’t care if they mess up. Like, definitely not afraid of the moment. Yeah, they’re not like, best. He just, like, it just always feels like he’s playing a smile on his face and like, DaMarion just is always, like, joking around. But they never, like, lose focus. Yeah, I mean, that scene, Damarion pretty much stepped up and been the big they’ve been the X factor for us this year. Because, I mean, we lost a big group of seniors and, I mean, the question was, were we going to be as good this year? And like with the intensity, be the same, and with the competitiveness, stay in practice. And I think this sophomore class did a good job of bringing that up. And it’s, I mean, it’s the same standard, if not better than last year. I would you guys, how would you guys grade this season on a scale of one to 10? I mean, just apart from expectations, I’d say it’s a nine or 10. Obviously, Clayton, in the past, is not necessarily being considered a sports school, but I think that with the 2025 class and the 2026 class, there’s been a lot of athletes that have kind of changed the culture around the entire school, and expectations are going up. So, yeah, we won our first district championship in 14 years, but it’s almost like we’re not satisfied for the first time. and maybe 10 years ago, we’d be pretty satisfied with that, but we’re looking. 

Alright, thanks for listing, good luck this Friday, boys. Peace out.